The Stage

Blackpool will die without super-casino, resort warns

Published Tuesday 12 September 2006 at 12:25 by Robin Duke

Blackpool’s entertainment and leisure industries have warned that without a super-casino the resort is threatened with terminal decline.

Speaking at a public meeting with the Casino Advisory Panel, which will advise the government on where to locate the UK’s one super-casino, spokespeople from live entertainment operators such as Leisure Parcs and the Pleasure Beach, as well as officials from Blackpool council and urban regeneration company ReBlackpool, warned that the town faced a bleak future without the gaming complex.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach director David Cam said even that popular amusement park had made big losses last year and anticipated the same again in 2006, with hoteliers predicting one of the worst years on record. He also revealed visitor numbers at the park had declined by 7% in 2005 and were expected to fall by at least the same figure this year despite the Pleasure Beach investing £55 million since 1997.

Meanwhile, Craig Hemmings of Leisure Parcs and various associated companies which own a property portfolio including Blackpool Tower, the Winter Gardens complex, the Sea Life Centre, Tussaud’s and the three piers predicted investment opportunities would increase if the super-casino came to the resort.

Ê”We are fighting for an ever smaller cake,” he said. “We support the drive for a regional casino because we believe it will be a catalyst for the whole town.”

Blackpool council chief executive Steve Weaver was even more emphatic. “For all the others the casino is a cherry on the icing of a pretty big cake. For Blackpool it is the cake,” he explained.

Blackpool was the final town of the seven shortlisted locations to meet with the CAP for a public examination. The shortlist was reduced from eight after Wembley withdrew its bid after losing backing from Brent council - its local authority. The panel is now expected to report on its decision to the government by the end of the year.

If Blackpool is successful in its bid, live entertainment will form a major feature of any gaming complex built in the town and would be expected to help regenerate a sector which has been struggling during the past few years.